Sidney Crosby had an impact on Canada's 3-2 semifinal comeback win over Finland on Friday despite not playing in the game due to injury.
"He was in the room, which was cool. Guys were leaning on him in the intermission, talking to him about what he could see from up top," Tom Wilson said postgame.
"He's just one of those guys that - it's very cliche, like when a teammate goes down, oh you want to play for him - but Sid is one of those guys, you really want to make him proud. You really want to play for him. I know personally, in my mind, I wanted to do everything I could for a guy like that, and I know everybody in that room did."
Crosby sustained a lower-body injury in Canada's quarterfinal win over Czechia on Wednesday, forcing him to miss Friday's game. Despite trailing Finland 2-1 entering the third period, the Canadians rallied to win in regulation.
Connor McDavid took Canada's captaincy with Crosby unavailable, a title he said he hopes to shed for Sunday's gold-medal matchup.
"Just keeping the 'C' warm for Sid," McDavid said after the dramatic semifinal win, according to Sportsnet's Luke Fox.
Crosby's status for the final against the winner of USA-Slovakia remains uncertain.
"We have 48 hours to decide that," Cooper said, according to New York Post's Mollie Walker. "But I will tell you he's got a better chance of playing (the gold-medal game) than he did of playing today."
Crosby has two goals and six points in four contests at the Games and is the all-time leading scorer in Olympic tournaments featuring NHL players, with 16 points in 17 outings.
